Testimonials

what’s it like to work with Christyan

Peak performer profile: patrick harper

forward, Nashville predators 2020-Present, Boston university 2016-2020, us MEN’S NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM 2017-2018

1. Why did you decide to work with Christyan?

   “I decided to work with Christyan for the reason every high performance athlete performs, they want to be the best at their craft. I did not know much about mindfulness or mental training, but all I knew was there was an area of my game that had been untapped and under cooked for far too long - my mind.”

2. How long have you been working with Christyan?

   “Almost 2 years.”

3. Why have you continued to work with Christyan?

   “Christyan loves what he does. He has a passion and fire to make the people he works with better in every aspect of life. Like myself, Christyan wants to be the best and he has helped me develop a process, become process oriented, and to live in the moment with confidence; knowing that all the work has already been done.”  

4. What principles, techniques, or topics have been the most impactful?

   “The three principles that have been the most impactful are visualization, commitment to the process, and the weekly talks we do to continually tune my mindset and live in the moment with a low stimulus.” 

5. How have you seen the mental training translate to your play on the ice, field, court, etc?

   “It has helped monumentally, because when you create something that means something to yourself it gives you a sense of preparedness, confidence, and swagger. Where in the moment you can let go and be free.”

6. How would you describe mental training to another athlete or friend?

   “A dedication to becoming the best version of yourself every single day.”

7. Would you recommend working with Christyan to another athlete or friend? Why?

   “Yes. Christyan loves working with people who want to better themselves, this is his passion, and excellence breeds excellence."

Peak performer profile: Jamie armstrong

forward, boston university 2020-present

1. Why did you decide to work with Christyan?

   “Christyan was introduced to me through Alex Guerrero who spoke highly of Christyan. I was coming off an injury and wanted to improve my mental skills.”

2. How long have you been working with Christyan?

   “I have been working closely with Christyan for over two years.”

3. Why have you continued to work with Christyan?

   “Christyan has helped me grow tremendously over the past two years. He has helped my game reach new levels and he is constantly providing me with new ways to grow and improve on and off the ice.”

4. What principles, techniques, or topics have been the most impactful?

   “When Christyan was first introduced to me we worked more on the topic of performance anxiety. Throughout the two years we have worked through many situations with breathing, visualization and using physical senses to help stay present.” 

5. How have you seen the mental training translate to your play on the ice, field, court, etc?

   “As my level of competition increased, my performance anxiety did as well. I knew about three years ago in order to play at a high level I needed to develop mental skills and techniques in order to perform at my best consistently. In the past two years I have went from letting the smallest situations get in the way of my performance to performing at my peak during the biggest stages and moments of my life.”

6. How would you describe mental training to another athlete or friend?

   “Mental training is developing the tools and techniques to perform at your peak consistently. It also helps you push yourself out of your comfort zone to hit new levels of peak performance.”

7. Would you recommend working with Christyan to another athlete or friend? Why?

   “Throughout my past two years working with Christyan I have recommended Christyan to multiple teammates and I will continue to recommend Christyan to teammates, athletes and friends."

Peak performer profile: Angelina joyce

forward, Umass-lowell 2019

1. Why did you decide to work with Christyan?

   “I decided to work with Christyan because my physical therapist recommended that seeing a sports psychologist before one of my major surgeries could help me mentally prepare for the surgery and the recovery after. My physical therapist told me how good he was, and that he's different from other therapists, so I was very excited to meet him.”

2. How long have you been working with Christyan?

   “I've been working with Christyan for about a year now, and he's been amazing.”

3. Why have you continued to work with Christyan?

   “I've continued to work with Christyan because the surgery I had was a career-ending injury. I'm still dealing with the process mentally and physically. After having five surgeries, I felt that it impacted me the most mentally. He's helping me realize how I can use the skills that I have learned from sports and translate that into real life. Also realizing that there's more to life than soccer and finding a new identity in a sense but never losing my identity as an athlete. The thing I love is that he always makes me find the answer on my own, he will never tell me what's best even when I ask him to, he uses ways to help me find the best solution and help shape myself into being the best version of myself I can be at this moment.”  

4. What principles, techniques, or topics have been the most impactful?

   “Everything he has taught me has been impactful. I honestly can't put it into words. The most impactful principle that has helped me with anything is that everything boils down to love and fear. When you drive things with fear, you are unable to feel or see the love and can’t have that positive change. For me, that has taken a long time, but I see myself doing it in little ways, and it helps a lot. Also, being able to understand the mind-body connection, how a person has three minds almost; A past them, a present them, and a future them. Learning how the past you may have done things differently from the current or future can be a challenge. Concentrating on the now or WIN (What's Important Now) has helped me feel like I can handle anything that comes at me and focus on what's most important. He has helped me see that I don't always have to move forward. Sometimes, you need to take two steps back to then move eight steps ahead. I ended up taking a semester off when usually I'm not the kind of person to do that, but it was the best decision I ever made. It is terrific to have the support of having someone to talk to and not give me an answer but question me and give me strategies to find what's best on my own.  

   There are so many Techniques that he has shown me. He showed me how I could express my love for soccer. I ended up writing a letter to soccer as if it were a person. He told me it didn't have to be thought out or brainstormed, let it come from your heart and raw emotions. When I wrote that letter, it gave me a different perspective of the sport and made me see how much soccer has taught me and how it impacted my life. Another good technique is to write three positive things that happened at the end of your day, which helped me see the good in the day rather than being overwhelmed by my medical issues or anything else going on. Learning how to create a habit and being one percent better every day and it could be the smallest thing is making your bed in the morning, and eventually, those little habits will build, and you will see an improvement over time. Setting short term goals and not thinking about the big picture is something that he taught me and helped me not overthink and made me feel like I kept moving forward in many different ways. He's taught me that it's not the sport that you love it's the feeling that it gave you and I live by those words because soccer for me was just a vehicle that I drove and that I loved, but I can one day find another passion that gives me the same feeling soccer did to drive that with my life.” 

5. How have you seen the mental training translate to your play on the ice, field, court, etc?

   “My mental training translated on the field a lot because I knew that my body was different from others. Christyan helped me realize that though I may not be able to do everything that everyone else can, I can put the same effort and dedication in many different ways to progress as an athlete. Also, to listen to my body when its telling me that somethings wrong. He helped me see how good of an athlete I am and that I did reach my full potential, which I felt like I never did due to injuries. But I now see that and feel so much prouder of myself.”

6. How would you describe mental training to another athlete or friend?

   “I would say mental training is when you prepare your mind in different ways to help you preform physically and mentally, having the confidence and motivation to keep going no matter how hard it can be.”

7. Would you recommend working with Christyan to another athlete or friend? Why?

   “I absolutely would, Christyan has been a lifesaver honestly. Christyan doesn't just help me with sports; he helps me see how athletes are a different kind of breed then your regular person. We hold ourselves to very high expectations that sometimes our unachievable, he's been able to show me how I have achieved many things in my career but also where I can keep learning and growing. By him helping me see how so many things soccer gave me transitioned into my real life helped me so much, He’s someone who truly really cares about you as a person and athlete in a way that is so impactful and I could never be more grateful to have met him."